The Overview: Stephen Leeds is perfectly sane. It’s his hallucinations who are mad. A genius of unrivaled aptitude, Stephen can learn any new skill, vocation, or art in a matter of hours. However, to contain all of this, his mind creates hallucinatory people—Stephen calls them aspects—to hold and manifest the information. Wherever he goes, he is joined by a team of imaginary experts to give advice, interpretation, and explanation. He uses them to solve problems… for a price. Stephen’s brain is getting a little crowded and the aspects have a tendency of taking on lives of their own. When a company hires him to recover stolen property—a camera that can allegedly take pictures of the past—Stephen finds himself in an adventure crossing oceans and fighting terrorists. What he discovers may upend the foundation of three major world religions—and, perhaps, give him a vital clue into the true nature of his aspects. This fall, Tor Books will publish Brandon Sanderson’s Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds. The collection will include the science fiction novellas Legion and Legion: Skin Deep, published together for the first time, as well as a brand new Stephen Leeds novella, Lies of the Beholder. This never-been-published novella will complete the series.-Goodreads

Nik’s Notes:

Legion is such a fun story! I love the creativity, the mystery, and the humor infused in every novella, and I’m glad Sanderson didn’t stop with just the first one. This edition is a compilation of the first two stories and the soon-to-be-released final novella (Legion: The Beholder’s Eye). I’m excited to have a nice-looking hardcover of these to add to my collections, as I’m sure I’ll be rereading them for years to come!

The Overview: Frey and Rafi are inseparable . . . but very few people have ever seen them together. This is because Frey is Rafi’s double, raised in the shadow’s of their rich father’s fortress. While Rafi has been taught to charm, Frey has been taught to kill. Frey only exists to protect her sister. There is no other part of her life. Frey has never been out in the world on her own – until her father sends her in Rafi’s place to act as collateral for a dangerous deal. Everyone thinks she’s her sister – but Col, the son of a rival leader, is starting to get close enough to tell the difference. As the stakes grow higher and higher, Frey must decide whether she can trust him – or anyone in her life. -Goodreads

Nik’s Notes:

12 years ago I finished Westerfeld’s Extras and immediately started telling friends how excited I was for the next one. To which my best friend replied, “Uhhhh, Niki… I think that was the final book.” O_o

And then I went on a tirade that lasted a few years about how cheated I felt because the book ended with a huge cliffhanger and figurative bomb-drop.

So now, after all this time, I finally get to see where Westerfeld intended the story to go.

Granted, it’s not a direct continuation, but I’m okay with that because I’m most interested in the story’s continuation than I am the characters’.

I may have to reread the series before diving in to refresh that memory. I’m hoping it will have the same appeal to me now that it did in my late teens. :)

Release Date: September 4, 2018 <-Release dates are subject to change on a whim. This was accurate as of 7/17/18.

The Overview: Centuries ago, in the city of Menzoberranzan, the City of Spiders, the City of Drow, nestled deep in the unmerciful Underdark of Toril, a young weapon master earned a reputation far above his station or that of his poor house. The greater nobles watched him, and one matron, in particular, decided to take him as her own. She connived with rival great houses to secure her prize, but that prize was caught for her by another, who came to quite enjoy the weapon master. This was the beginning of the friendship between Zaknafein and Jarlaxle, and the coupling of Matron Malice and the weapon master who would sire Drizzt Do’Urden. R. A. Salvatore reveals the Underdark anew through the eyes of Zaknafein and Jarlaxle—an introduction to the darkness that offers a fresh view of the opportunities to be found in the shadows and an intriguing prelude to the intriguing escapes that lie ahead in the modern-day Forgotten Realms. Here, a father and his son are reunited and embark on adventures that parallel the trials of centuries long past as the friends of old are joined by Drizzt, Hero of the North, trained by Grandmaster Kane in the ways of the monk. But the scourge of the dangerous Lolth’s ambitions remain, and demons have been foisted on the unwitting of the surface. The resulting chaos and war will prove to be the greatest challenge for all three. -Goodreads

Nik’s Notes:

A new Drizzt novel? Sign me up!! Admittedly I have a few books in the series to catch up with first (I’m on Neverwinter and will probably skip the Companions series so… 6 books behind?) but given how much I enjoy returning to this realm, I’m looking forward to it. Just the snippets I allowed myself to read from the overview, it sounds like it takes place in one of my favorite places in the saga: Menzoberranzan. Nice!!

I don’t think I’ve ever been up to date with this series… am I the only one?? :)